America: Starting with Daily Intelligence

Chapter 196 Air Transport of Artworks

Having agreed on a time and place, Zhang Ailun drove to Sanji's Bar, intending to have Melvin or Johnson accompany him to Austin to transport goods.

He casually sent Jason a message, asking him to notify his friends in Austin to provide backup.

Since I'm unfamiliar with Texas, having locals to take care of me will at least prevent any trouble.

Jason: What are you guys doing in Austin?

Zhang Ailun: Some employers have asked us to escort a batch of goods. As you know, Sig and I now run a gun shop, and many customers hire us for escort services. Of course, if your friends need supplies, they can also come to us to buy them, and we guarantee they'll be satisfied with the prices.

Jason: Okay, I've already notified my friends. If you need anything, you can call this number [phone number]. They're quite well-known locally and have some connections. As long as you pay enough, they can definitely help you with things.

Zhang Ailun: OK.

We drove to Sanji Bar.

Zhang Ailun got out of the car and entered the bar, finding that the morning crowd was still large. Soft music was playing inside, the lighting was gentle, and some drunkards even stayed out all night or stayed until morning.

The moment the old drunkards open their eyes, they call over a waiter, order a $5 vodka or a large $2 oat beer to rinse their mouths, and then, along with the complimentary bread or desserts from the bar, take out the horse racing tickets they bought yesterday to watch the show.

And just like that, I easily got away with another meal.

After watching the game, some people either earned a day's living expenses or lost everything, leading to furious outbursts of anger.

HP-1 table and chairs!

When they run out of money, they won't refuse to pay by keeping accounts; instead, they'll work hard to go out and make money.

Insurance fraud, staged accidents, petty theft—these drunken old men have lived most of their lives in the slums and are still alive, which means that survival of the fittest, they are experienced and have plenty of ways to make money.

They didn't earn much to cover their living expenses. Once they had enough for drinks, they would return to their familiar bar, order a drink to rinse their mouths, and continue chatting with their old buddies. That was their carefree life, and they had long been used to it.

The bar staff wouldn't chase them away, and they wouldn't bother them too much when cleaning. After all, these were regular customers, living gold standard, people who only trusted the quality of Sanji Bar. They could be called bar gods!

During this particular time period, Geese, who had worked the night shift, had just finished his shift and left, and Mary had not yet come to hand over the shift. Zhang Ailun asked the bartender and found out that Mary had asked for leave for something.

Zhang Ailun asked Mary about it and learned that she was accompanying her boyfriend to the hospital for a physical examination, so he didn't think much of it.

They were, after all, minor owners and shareholders of the bar. He couldn't control their leave requests, as long as the bar was consistently profitable and making money wasn't an issue. Otherwise, the head of the operation would definitely find time to reprimand them!

I greeted Melvin and Johnson and called them both into my office.

I opened my laptop, entered my password, and started logging into the bar's back office to check the accounts.

They discovered that alcohol sales had surged, generating around $2800 in profit daily, mostly from the sale of brandy inventory, with other miscellaneous inexpensive drinks and beers also yielding a net profit of $200.

This only covers the profits from alcohol sales. The profits from the various gaming facilities in the latter half are even more lucrative. Even though the more violent slot machines and baccarat have been cut at the request of the head of the organization, and they no longer cooperate with the black people on the street to sell cocoa and leaves, leaving only the compliant and legal scratch cards, horse racing activities, billiard tables and boxing testing equipment, they still make at least $7000 a day by operating 24 hours a day.

In other words, Sanji's Bar has recently been generating over $1 in sales every day. After deducting miscellaneous expenses such as labor, utilities, and profit sharing, the head of the bar can still make a net profit of around $5000.

Over this period of time, the net profit belonging to the Grand Master alone, as recorded in the books, has reached $4.8, which can be withdrawn at any time. He will take legal tax avoidance measures to get this money.

Of course, this is also thanks to Dave teaching them how to legally avoid taxes, without having to pay a single cent, which is how they were able to earn so much money. If it were a normal business, they would have to pay at least close to half of the taxes.

Federal tax, state tax, sales tax, income tax... If you earn $3,000 a week working, you'll have to pay $1,000 in taxes. If you run a business and earn $10,000 a day, you can imagine, you won't be spared unless you pay the highest level of taxes! Special industries may have even higher taxes.

This isn't how a boss operates; it's just a pure predator who preys on people's greed. Who could survive here without tax evasion?

After checking the accounts, Zhang Ailun told the two men about the business he was going to do that day: transporting goods to Austin, Texas, on a private plane chartered by the employer, and asked them which of them would like to accompany him.

Johnson immediately took the initiative, saying, "Boss, this kind of good thing should definitely be given to me. I know a little bit about driving."

"I definitely don't need you to fly the plane. You don't have a driver's license." After thinking it over, Zhang Ailun decided to have Johnson accompany him to Austin, while Melvin could stay here to mind the shop.

Melvin had no objection to this. Staying here to work was easy, and the leader wouldn't treat him badly. He could drink for free and even get a salary.

After leaving the store, Zhang Ailun took Qiao Sen to Armed Nation to change their equipment. The gun shop already had customers, and Jennifer was introducing a semi-automatic pistol to a parent and a high school student.

Zhang Ailun didn't disturb her business. He took Qiao Sen to the office on the second floor, had him change into professional security equipment, and left through the back door, driving to the agreed-upon location for the mission.

Sadie told him to bring his men to the airport in the suburbs to meet up, and he's already there with them waiting. She sent another message urging him to hurry and asking questions.

Zhang Ailun: What's the panic? It's not time to depart yet! Have you found a professional pilot? I can't fly a plane.

Sadie: I have professionals who can fly those two Cessna 210 private jets. All you have to do is accompany us to Austin and deliver the goods precisely to their hands. As an arms dealer, how can you not fly a plane?

Zhang Ailun: I have professional staff who will help me fly the plane. If I have to do everything myself, then why would I hire them? Who says that bosses have to have special skills? Real estate bosses don't even know how to build walls.

Sadie: Okay, how come I didn't notice how good you were at making excuses yesterday? I hope you'll always be this eloquent! Come on over.

Zhang Ai put away her phone and drove to a small airport in the suburbs. It wasn't located in the direction of their hangar, but rather at another airport near the town. Basically, every economically prosperous town would build such an airport for takeoffs and landings.

After spending several tens of minutes, they arrived at the small airport in Rhodes Town. From afar, they could see two Cessna 210 aircraft parked there, along with a group of Razer motorcycle gang members. One of the tattooed men looked familiar to the leader.

He parked the Wrangler next to him, fully armed, carrying a tactical pack, and walked over to say hello.

"Hey! Dear Juankin! You've finally arrived!"

Sadie greeted him with a smile.

She has short red hair, wears a jacket and a white cropped shirt, has a tall and hot figure, and her tanned thighs show signs of training. She wears red shoes and colorful socks, and her lifespan is longer than a person's. Her overall outfit looks clean and refreshing.

Zhang Ailun nodded, unmoved, and introduced him to his colleague, Qiao Sen.

Yesterday at the bar, she was wearing heavy makeup and I couldn't tell her age. She spoke and acted like someone who had been through a lot. Now that I look at her, she's only in her early twenties, still very young.

Zhang Ailun turned to the tattooed guy beside him and said with a smile, "Dude, they dug you out of the closet? How does it feel?"

The tattooed guy was complaining to his boss about how he would teach them a lesson when they arrived, but when he saw the real culprit, he remembered the scene of being brutally beaten and ravaged yesterday, and became timid and submissive.

She said, feeling wronged, "Don't even mention it. Now everyone thinks I'm a useless coward."

"Don't bully him, he's our pilot," Sadie said, standing up for her little brother.

"Him?" Zhang Ailun was a little doubtful whether someone who liked to masturbate others could actually fly a real plane.

He thought there would be professional pilots, but it turned out they were all members of the motorcycle gang. He should have called Bailey over; these motorcycle gang members are really unreliable.

"Don't underestimate me. I flew a plane when I was 14. I used to do all the cargo delivery work." The tattooed guy was a little dissatisfied. "I have professional certifications."

"Let me make it clear beforehand, I'm not sitting on the same plane as him," Zhang Ailun said, not caring whether he was a professional or not.

"Sure." Sadie nodded, tossed her hair, and said with a smile, "You can totally sit on the same plane as me and protect me!"

Zhang Ailun said, "Madam, I don't think you need anyone to protect you at all."

"Just call me Sadie. Aren't we friends now?" Sadie said.

"Not just anyone can be my friend," Zhang Ailun replied. "We're just business partners."

This demonstrated the strength and fortitude of a Sigma man. Johnson, watching from the side, was filled with admiration.

If it were him, he would have licked it already.

"It's alright, we'll have plenty of time to get to know each other later," Sadie said appreciatively.

"Did you load all your goods onto the plane?" Zhang Ailun changed the subject, glancing at the beautifully packaged boxes on the plane, and asked, "Are you sure they're all mannequin products?"

"Actually, there are some sporting goods too. But they're all legal and compliant, so you don't need to worry," Sadie said. "I also earn money by transporting goods for others; we're practically in the same line of work."

"If it's just transporting ordinary goods, then you should be working with the postal company." Zhang Ailun glanced at the time; it was already departure time. He urged them to prepare for departure and called for Johnson to board the plane.

"Boss, I have a feeling this female client is interested in you?" Johnson whispered to the leader, taking a moment to sidle up. "I heard from Sig that her family seems to be quite wealthy!"

"There are plenty of people who are interested in me, do you expect me to have something happen with every single one of them?" Zhang Ailun said irritably. "Her family background means she's not one of us, she's only suited for business. Why does that guy Sieg tell you everything? I'm going to teach him a lesson when I see him again."

Qiao Sen was also very disappointed to see this.

After boarding the private jet, Sadie waved goodbye to the other motorcycle gang members. Soon, the pilot started the plane, the propellers began to spin at high speed, and the plane sprinted along the airport runway, quickly taking off, retracting the wheels, and flying steadily in the high sky.

This wasn't Zhang Ailun's first time flying, but it has to be said that the experience of flying on an expensive multi-seat private jet is indeed much better than flying on a glider.

Looking down, the town below seemed tiny. Soon, they had traversed the outskirts and city center of Los Angeles.

The aircraft's radar navigation system issued a warning: "1 hour and 58 minutes from your local destination. A route and open airspace for low-altitude flight have been planned for you."

"You have about two hours left, so you can enjoy the beautiful scenery," Sadie said leisurely from the front seat. She then took out two pieces of fruit gummies and handed them to the leader. "What flavor do you like?"

"The blueberry flavor is not bad," Zhang Ailun said after glancing at it.

"Okay, I like strawberry flavor." Sadie smiled.

Have you always enjoyed making awkward conversations?

Zhang Ailun simply pulled up his goggles, closed his eyes to rest, and asked Qiao Sen to wake him up when they arrived at the destination.

Seeing that he didn't seem interested in chatting, Sadie wisely kept quiet, connected to the airplane's Wi-Fi, and started playing on her phone.

Zhang Ailun glanced at it and exclaimed, "Holy crap, Genshin Impact!"

In the blink of an eye, they had covered hundreds of kilometers. Johnson woke Zhang Ailun, "Boss, wake up, we're almost there."

Zhang Ailun stretched and glanced out the window. He was about to arrive in Austin, the capital of Texas, but it seemed he was currently in a suburban town. It was still some distance from downtown Austin.

The pilot contacted the town's airport in advance and received confirmation that it was safe to land. He then began to decelerate, downshift, and dive.

With a change in gravity inside the cabin, like riding an elevator, the brief period of intracranial high pressure was followed by a smooth landing on the tarmac.

"Aren't we going to the airport in the city? Why come here?" Zhang Ailun asked, puzzled, after a smooth landing.

"We don't need to go into the city. My people will drive the batch of mannequin artworks to the mall after we get off the plane. All you have to do is come with me and deliver the sports equipment to the local Black gym," Sadie explained.

Sports equipment, Black-owned gym.

All of them contain sensitive words.

Zhang Ailun didn't say much, opened the cabin door, and took Qiao Sen off the plane.

As soon as I landed, I felt a wave of heat hit me, and the air was a bit humid. The geography and climate were not much different from those in Los Angeles; this is what the West Coast is like.

I asked Sadie about her delivery address and how to get there.

Sadie replied, "We can rent a car. There's a car rental shop nearby. We've done that the last few times."

"No need for that trouble. I happen to know some locals who will arrange a car to pick us up," Zhang Ailun said.

It's time to show the employer what I'm capable of and let her know that the $8 from the headmaster wasn't taken for nothing.

He took out his phone and called Jason's friends. Someone answered quickly, and a voice came through: "Hey! Hello, this is Jimmy."

"Hello, I'm a friend introduced by Jason. You can call me Juan King."

"Hey buddy, I've heard of you! Jason already told me to give you a good welcome and help you out with some trouble. What's wrong, what kind of trouble are you in?" Jimmy asked enthusiastically.

"It's nothing serious, but I have a shipment of sporting goods that I need to trade with some Black people, but I don't know if they're reliable. We need a few trucks right now, can you handle that?" Zhang Ailun said.

"Sure, no problem! Where are you now? I'll bring someone to pick you up right away," Jimmy said readily.

Zhang Ailun glanced at the town's airport and gave him the coordinates.

"Okay! We'll be right there!"

After hanging up the phone, Sadie was somewhat surprised. "You know local gangs in Austin?"

"They're business partners I met through a friend, and they seem to have some connections in the area," Zhang Ailun replied. "But I don't know if they're reliable."

Sadie was pleased to see that he had arranged everything so well.

(End of this chapter)